By IANS,
New Delhi : The problems and grievances of a large number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) have proliferated in the absence of legislative and administrative remedies, says former attorney general Soli Sorabjee.
“With a large number of Indian migrating abroad and the nomenclature of non-resident Indians, people of Indian origin and overseas citizens of India coined by the government of India to describe them, their problems and grievances have proliferated, sans any legislative remedies or administrative redress,” Sorabjee said.
He said this Wednesday while launching the book “Indians, NRI and the Law”, authored by Anil Malhotra and Ranjit Malhotra, at the British High Commission here.
The book, which says there are 30 million NRIs settled in 180 countries, touches upon subjects like marriage, divorce, spousal maintenance, child abduction, domestic and inter-country adoptions, succession, inheritance, immigration, citizenship and even surrogate motherhood.
Sorabjee handed over the first copy of the book to British High Commissioner to India Richard Stagg.
Stagg said that with a growing diaspora, the need for some authentic reference material on the NRI problem was the need of the day.
Stagg said: “As the Indian footprint expands across the globe, it is ever more important to understand the impact of this change in terms of law and judicial systems.”
“The Malhotras’ book is, therefore, well-timed to meet the growing needs,” he said.
A member of the British House of Lords, Diljit Rana, said the book, which he described as a milestone in the history of NRIs, would go a long way in resolving the problems of NRIs worldwide.
As president of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Rana said: “I am immensely happy with this ready reference of law written in such simple words.”
Introducing his book, Anil Malhotra said: “Time and people have changed, laws have not.” As a consequence, the overburdened legal system is attempting to dispense justice by culling out permissible relief on a case-to-case basis, he said.
“Though the solutions are embedded in bringing legislative changes for evolving an NRI jurisprudence, the pace and consciousness levels with which lawmakers are moving is alarmingly slow,” Anil Malhotra said.
He said human trafficking, the question of nationality and citizenship, including dual citizenship, voting rights and human rights, including the right to live with family, are the emerging areas of new NRI jurisprudence and they find no legislative recognition and are not on Indian statutory books.
International commercial arbitration has acquired new dimensions and the outdated Indian corporate immigration laws need to be revisited and revised to match present day requirements, Malhotra underlined.